Canada's 50 Tallest Proposals

[Janbe]

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[Redkey]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

a new render for 27 yorkville: (50 cumberland)

I wish the vertical lines would be made of steel and the balconies too, it would really make the balconies unique in Toronto... For once.

This is what I mean by steel balconies:

http://www.dezeen.com/2011/12/22/housing-hatert-by-24h-architecture/

[koops65]

Drawing for 50 Cumberland has been made, when more detailed renders are released I will update the drawing.
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=7006

[Ramako]

Amazing as always Koops. Great job!

[caltrane74]

Almost at 30 towers over 200 meters in the skyscraper diagram.

[koops65]

Thanks Ramako, that was a surprisingly easy one to make, only took me an hour. But I didn't put much effort into it since I know I'll have to re-make it at some point.
And Cal, since there are no drawings of Signature Tower, and the mystery tower Leftcoaster hinted at, and possibly 1 Yonge, there are really more than 30 already.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by koops65

Thanks Ramako, that was a surprisingly easy one to make, only took me an hour. But I didn't put much effort into it since I know I'll have to re-make it at some point.
And Cal, since there are no drawings of Signature Tower, and the mystery tower Leftcoaster hinted at, and possibly 1 Yonge, there are really more than 30 already.

...plus the two at at 60 Harbour.

Though it's pretty unlikely that all the current proposals will get built within the next several years, it's clear now that Toronto has passed a tipping point and entered into a new era wherein the construction of major skyscrapers is not a rarity, but a common and ongoing occurrence, much like in New York, Chicago and Hong Kong. Toronto may not always be booming like it is now, but the positive shift in cultural attitudes toward downtown and urban living is becoming permanent, meaning that there will always be a relatively healthy demand for new residential and office space downtown.

Whereas cities like Los Angeles, Cleveland, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta and Philadelphia now go decades at a time without seeing the construction of major skyscrapers, Toronto is moving into the next tier and is truly becoming a skyscraper city. I can't even begin to imagine what Toronto will look like in 20 years.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Ramako

Whereas cities like Los Angeles, Cleveland, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta and Philadelphia now go decades at a time without seeing the construction of major skyscrapers, Toronto is moving into the next tier and is truly becoming a skyscraper city. I can't even begin to imagine what Toronto will look like in 20 years.

I remember a long period when nothing major was built in Toronto. The main core of financial buildings looked pretty much the same in 2004 as it did in 1990. The story is about the same in San Francisco -- lots of stuff went up in the 80's and then the real estate market was hot again a few years ago and some more major buildings were constructed. Toronto has gotten more condo towers lately but I'm not sure it stands apart as much as you suggest, and I don't think extrapolation based on the volume of current construction is likely to be accurate.

[Chadillaccc]

We have also built 2 office towers of over 190 meters, with another to begin construction within a month or two dude... that isn't small potatoes.

However, once all of our towers currently UC are finished, we will still be 11 towers behind Chicago in the 200 meter + category, so let's not get too ahead of ourselves. But we can also remember that we are booming and probably will be for another while, and Chicago is not and has hardly any prospects on the horizon.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

However, once all of our towers currently UC are finished, we will still be 11 towers behind Chicago in the 200 meter + category, so let's not get too ahead of ourselves. But we can also remember that we are booming and probably will be for another while, and Chicago is not and has hardly any prospects on the horizon.

The difference mostly seems to come down to residential buildings. Coming from Canada the lack of multi-unit buildings and suburban residential highrises in US cities is pretty striking. In cities like Atlanta and Seattle housing is cheap, gas is cheap, and there's a lot of road infrastructure so people can afford to buy detached houses and commute. Maybe there are also some regulatory reasons for the lack of residential highrises in those cities. San Francisco's lack of residential towers is definitely related to NIMBYism. If development controls were lifted there'd be a ton of highrise construction in SF because apartments there cost a fortune.

[caltrane74]

Toronto already had 1000's more highrises than American Cities with the exception of New York. The difference being that alot of the highrises were in the suburbs. Now the highrises are built throughout the downtown core. Their young inhabitants forcing corporations now to build office towers downtown. Southcore is building unreal office capacity, and it will make a difference on the feel of the city. The main intersection of York and Bremner is only one block from Lake Ontario. So the financial core is moving towards the lake. Part of the process of revitalizing the lakefront is bringing the city closer to the lake. Without all the high-intensity construction of residential towers we'd be waiting a long time for this concept to take on its own with corporations taking the lead.

Here is a look at Bremner and York looking north from the lake.


Here is a look at the lake looking south from Bremner and York.


Here is a look at Bremner and York in 1990

The two smoke stacks and pile of dirt is York and Bremner

[WhipperSnapper]

New York and Chicago are major commercial centres in a country of 300 million. Toronto must rely heavily on mid market residential units to keep building skyscrapers which is an investor heavy and therefore highly volatile, cyclical market. I just don't see the change you guys see from the 1970s boom to the late 1980s boom that ended in a multi year drought in buildings of 400 units or more.

The suburbs are building tons of high rises. Almost every high-rise node has seen activity. Some have double their stock (NYCC) and some others didn't even exist before 1997 (Humber Bay Shores). The 905 is no different.

[Ramako]

Yes, New York and Chicago are major commercial centres in a country of 300 million, but by that same token they have a dozen other major cities in their same country competing with them as commercial centres. Comparability speaking, Toronto faces less competition within Canada for head offices and wealth, and has a greater proportion of its country's population than either Chicago or New York by a long shot.

Of course population's not the only factor though. There's clearly something different happening in Toronto than in places like Boston, Seattle, Philadephia, etc. They haven't seen similar booms in high rise construction in the last ten or twenty years, be it residential or commercial, despite at one point having far looser credit than in Canada and having comparable municipal GDPs. What's the explanation for this? I think that a cultural embrace of urban and highrise living is one reason. There's no doubt that people are flooding into downtown: http://metronews.ca/voices/ford-for-toronto/338316/boomtown-toronto-trinity-spadina-growth/

From the above article:

If Trinity-Spadina, the Toronto riding represented by NDP MP Olivia Chow, stood as its own municipality, it would be the third fastest-growing municipality in Ontario—growing faster even than the sprawl factories in Brampton and Vaughan.

According to recent census figures by Statistics Canada, nearly 30,000 new residents moved into the 18.6 km² area of downtown Toronto between 2006 and 2011, making for a staggering 25.5% increase in population in just five years.To put that into perspective: that means about 3% of the land area in Toronto accounted for more than 26% of the city’s recent population growth.

Regardless, I'm not saying that I expect Toronto to build as much as Chicago or New York in absolute terms (well, maybe Chicago), or that the pace of this boom will continue, but I do expect that we've left the days behind where we go well over a decade without seeing any real construction.

[Innsertnamehere]

the clarion hotel project has been confirmed at 179.6m, here: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-49482.pdf

render:

[Ramako]

Here's the application for E Condos: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-49540.pdf

It lists a couple different heights for the same towers. Not sure which are correct.

[caltrane74]

Didn't even know about the Clairon Proposal.

202.5 meters for E-Condos.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Didn't even know about the Clairon Proposal.

202.5 meters for E-Condos.

You mean 202.05 metres (page 4).

As I alluded to above, the document also lists the tower as being 203 metres (page 24) and 205 metres (page 12).

[Innsertnamehere]

I'd go with 203. (the one on the last page) I am guessing that is the proper height. too bad the elevation drawing's height markers are illegible.

[caltrane74]

The range of the three is pretty close. We can go in the middle with 204 meters.

[steveve]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

the clarion hotel project has been confirmed at 179.6m, here: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-49482.pdf

render:

.... and people complain about James cooper mansion.....

This thing looks terrible. I think mostly due to it's proportions.. it looks like a better version of 432 Park Ave. (which is still bad)